Chapter 2

Tony

As I drove out of the parking lot of the motel, I felt concern for the well-being of my pack take over. I was also concerned about leaving my family behind. What if we had been followed to that motel? What if whoever had attacked my pack was looking for an opportunity to wipe us out as well? What if I had just left my family unprotected? My son was a good fighter, but he was still a student with a lot to learn. My wife was a good warrior, but alone with two children to protect, how effective would she actually be during an attack?

I tried to push my concern for my family to the back of my mind as I tried to brace myself for what I might find when I returned to my home. Right now, I had no idea of what awaited me back on our packs territory.

I sped along the highway, hoping that I wouldn't get pulled over. When I finally reached the turn-off for the narrow dirt road driveway that would lead me to my house and our main pack house, it was almost like a blessing and a curse rolled into one.

I turned down the dirt road and made my way towards my house. I saw the black plumes of smoke wafting above the trees off in the distance and I instantly knew that the attack had been a bad one.

As I followed the dirt road heading towards my house, I kept my eyes peeled for any enemy wolves that might still be lurking around looking to pick off survivors. I rounded a corner and saw the burned out remains of my home. As I looked at the smoke and ashes of what now remained of my home, I was glad that Cristi wasn't here with me to see it. She had poured her heart and soul into making that house a home for us for the past seventeen years. Now, it was just a gutted, burned out building that would need to be torn down.

I kept driving, slowly making my way towards the houses that were closer to the main pack house and the Alpha's residence. I felt gutted when I saw that my path was just revealing more of the same devastation. Burned out homes scattered across the landscape. There were bodies scattered across the ground as well. I didn't need to get out of my car to check for signs of life though, it was obvious just by looking at the fallen that there was no way they could possibly be alive.

I kept driving along the driveway, and it wasn't long before I reached what remained of our main pack house. The building, just like the others I had seen as I had been making my way along the driveway. It was completely was burned out. The yard and gardens surrounding its remains were covered with the bodies of our dead along with the bodies of some of our enemies. Looking over to the right I could see a burned out structure where our Alpha's house had once stood. As I looked at what remained of our Alpha residence I felt my blood run cold. On the front lawn of the Alpha residence was a sight that made me feel sick to my stomach. The heads of our Alpha and Luna were on spikes, displayed for the world to see. The level of disrespect in this act made me feel anger all the way through to my very core.

At that moment, I was glad that I had left my family at the motel. This sight would have been too much for Honey to witness. I didn't know how I was going to break the news to her that her parents were dead. Cristi and I had been doing our best to assure her they would be fine. Our intentions had been good. But I could see now that those good intentions had come back to bite us. Poor Honey. She was going to be heartbroken when she learned the truth about her parents and the pack.

Looking around, it was apparent to me that the wolves who had attacked our pack had left no survivors. They had come here with the intention of wiping out our entire pack. Like cowards everywhere they had carried out their attack under the cover of darkness. As far as our enemies were aware, they had succeeded in doing wiping us all out. I needed to get back to my family and get them out of this region. I had to put as much distance between my family and our pack territory as possible. We were a Beta family. We had been given a task by our Alpha and Luna. We had been entrusted with protecting their daughter. Even though our Alpha and Luna were no longer with us, we had to keep the promise we had made to them. We had to keep Honey alive at all costs. She was an Alpha's daughter. And without a pack, she was now a target.

I turned my car around and backtracked down the driveway, driving faster then I had when I had arrived. As I drove, I was keeping an eye out for any signs that I was being watched or being followed. Once I hit the highway, I floored it, rushing back to the motel to check on my family. As soon as I pulled into the motel parking lot, I didn't waste any time getting out of the car. I locked it and rushed to the door of room number nine. I knocked on the door and was relieved when Cristi opened it. She hugged me tightly as I maneuvered around her, entering the room, and shutting and locking the door behind me.

"Dad, what happened? Is everyone okay?" Zac asked, looking at me worriedly.

"No. No they aren't okay, son," I replied.

"What about my parents? Where are they? Are they okay?" Honey asked, moving to stand beside Zac, as she looked at me waiting for answers to her questions.

"Honey, oh Honey, I am so sorry," I said as I looked at her.

"What do you mean? You and Cristi both said they would be okay. You said the second Beta team and pack warriors would be enough protection," she said, looking at me in confusion.

"There were no survivors. There were bodies everywhere. And all of the buildings have been burned down, including our house," I stated, needing to rip the band-aid off.

"So... the whole pack is gone...? Just like that?" Zac whispered, looking at me in horror.

"Yes son. The whole pack is gone," I confirmed, nodding my head.

"But that's not possible, we had warriors. You even said that they were all well-trained. We had a big pack. There is no way that they could all be dead in one night," Honey stated, looking like she was about to break down at any moment.

"Honey, we don't know how big the attacking force was. All I can tell you is what I saw when I went back to the pack grounds. The buildings are all destroyed, and the dead were everywhere," I repeated as I tried to explain the level of devastation to her.

'Well, we should go back and bury them. They need to be buried properly," Zac stated.

"No, we can't go back there Zac. We can't risk any of our enemies coming back and seeing us still alive. They would kill us too," Cristi explained.

"We can't just leave them there!" Zac cried, clearly horrified by the thought.

"Zac, your mother is right. We have to protect Honey. We need to keep her alive," I told him.

"But those were our family members, our friends, we can't just leave them out there to be eaten by wild animals," he insisted, looking at me in disgust.

"Zac, I have said all that I am going to say on the matter. Get your bags packed, we are leaving right now," I said as I began gathering up my belongings and shoving them back into my duffel bag.

Without any further words, everyone began to do as I had said. Honey appeared to be running on autopilot as she packed her belongings into her suitcase. I knew that the news she had just received was going to take time for her to process. I also knew that Zac was not happy with my decision of not going back and burying our dead. I knew that one day when he was a fully trained Beta with some experience under his belt, he would understand the decision I had made here today. Unfortunately for me though, that day was a long way off.

Once we were all packed up and ready to leave, Cristi did a final scan of the room to ensure we hadn't overlooked or forgotten anything. A few minutes later, we all made our way outside and loaded the car up. Once my family was safely in the car, I went into the hotel office and paid for our room and handed the key in to the duty manager. Making my way back out to the car, I got in and started the engine. The moment we left the motel, we began heading west. We needed a plan. We needed shelter. Right now, we were on our own, and we were travelling blind.

When you are a werewolf, alone is a very bad place to be. Werewolves with no pack don't tend to survive for long. I looked over to where Cristi was sitting in the passenger seat. She was staring out the windshield, her face as white as a sheet. I reached over and took her hand in mine, gripping it gently. She looked at me and gave me a weak smile. I squeezed her hand gently in a gesture of reassurance.

"Where are we going?" Zac asked from the backseat.

"I don't know yet. We just need to put some distance between us and the people responsible for the attack," I replied.

"Great! So what are we now? The designated homeless?" he asked, clearly annoyed by this situation we had found ourselves in.

"Zac, buddy, this isn't easy on any of us, okay?" I replied.

"We might be the designated homeless, but we are still alive," Cristi whispered in response.

"It's alright for the two of you. My whole world was back there," he snapped.

"Zac..." I growled, showing him I was not okay with his attitude. He didn't say anything further. He just stared out of the window in silence.

Cristi mind linked me and said, "We need to go to my parents."

I looked at her and nodded in agreement. Her parents would know what to do. I kept driving a little relieved at knowing we now had a plan.